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Consumers, more than watchdogs, can bring mighty Amazon to heel

Simon Duke

Once a business reaches a certain size, a prudent founder stops boasting about his successes. No one likes a braggart and history is awash with examples of swaggering enterprises that came unstuck through complacency or at the hands of regulators.

In the United States, both Standard Oil and AT&T were smashed apart for using their dominant market positions to gouge consumers. In Europe, anti-trust watchdogs have shattered local energy and telecoms monopolies and have tried to muzzle Microsoft, Intel and, most recently, Google.

To American eyes, Europe’s crusade against big technology smacks of sour grapes. Brussels stands accused of targeting successful US companies to prop up flat-footed local rivals. In this febrile atmosphere, it takes a rare individual to unite the warring tribes. So take…

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